Saturday, February 27, 2010

Yes, I admit it…..I am addicted to socks! I started a Toe-Up Sock knitting class 2 weeks ago and have knit 7 socks since the class started! Today was the last class and I learned how to do a stretchy bind off so I now have 7 finished socks and the 8th (second half of the 4th pair) is on the needles now.

This is my 2 weeks of knitting….

I love these socks and I promise I’ll be back to quilting again soon :)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

After dropping my mom off at her Red Hat convention on Friday afternoon I came home and wasn’t feeling too well so I didn’t make it into the sewing room. Instead I cast on another sock and started knitting. I made alot of progress on my knitting and I just love this color combo!!

Now that I’m feeling better hopefully I’ll get the quilt quilted this week and start the binding!!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I am! Tomorrow night I’ll be quilting my Blue Bricks & Stepping Stones top. I’ll get it loaded onto the frame this afternoon and be ready to quilt away after taking my mom to her Red Hat Convention in Baltimore!! Tomorrow night we’ll have frozen pizzas for dinner so I won’t be taken away from my quilting for long :)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Not only have I been having fun knitting, I’ve also been playing in the studio. I finished cutting out my Too Good to Cut Challenge so there’s another February Goal ticked off the list. Here’s the cut strips for the top along with the background rectangles:

And here’s the skinny little strips that I cut off to straighten up the end of each of the fabrics:

I also ordered one of the Quilts For Kids kits and received it this week. It’s nice and bright and fun! I’m looking forward to making this one. I also have a finished quilt to send off to the project and another one marinating in my brain from some bright and fun orphan blocks. Here’s the kit I received:

Later today I might try to get the Bricks & Stepping Stones quilt loaded onto the frame and start quilting.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

So I’ve been knitting off and on for 30 years or so (my mom taught me how to knit when I was in 2nd grade) but I have never taken a knitting class until today. I start my first of 3 Toe Up Sock classes and what a fun time! There are only 2 of us in the class so it’s very laid back and I’m having a ball! We learned a Figure 8 cast on and the Magic Loop method for toe up socks. I’m using a 100"% Superwash Merino Wool sock yarn and 32” long #2 circular needles. Here’s some progress pictures…

We learn how to shape the heel in the next class so i have to knit to the heel this week.

Friday, February 12, 2010

So I went searching on the pre-cut drawer and after a lot of hemming and hawing I decided on my Maypole jelly roll by April Cornell. I found a pretty pink that goes with the fabrics for the background. After all this snow I need to play with some bright springy colors!!

Yesterday I also bit the bullet and started piecing some of my larger batting scraps into usable battings. I now have a stack of 6 battings to use in upcoming projects :)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

My February UFO is finally a flimsy. I started this quilt on Superbowl Sunday 2009 and finally got the borders attached tonight after dinner. So now all I have to do is quilt and bind it and I’ll have another UFO finish!!! YAY!!!

Here’s the finished top:

Today was a work from home day since we had another round of winter weather. This was the 3rd Blizzard of the season and we got at least another 10.5” on top of the 30” we got over the weekend. If we ever get enough of a break in the weather I will be able to step out onto the back deck and get some pictures of the big snowy sandbox aka my fenced in backyard. This is just crazy! here’s a couple pictures of today’s new snow. The picture of the snow on top of the trash can is all new snow, it was clear before the snow started falling last night….

Monday, February 8, 2010

Today is an unexpected snow day from work after our historic snowfall a few days ago. So between working on projects for work from home, I am sewing a little as well. On my design wall is my blue Bricks & Stepping Stones top. I am onto sewing the rows together now and I have a good shot at finishing this top today….YAY!! Here’s what it looks like right now:

I also managed to finish my 4th UFO of the year. The Imperfect Squares baby quilt for my college friend’s new son Finn is finished and ready to mail to Florida when I can get to the post office. Here’s the finished quilt and a close-up of the loopy meander quilting I did. I’m so happy to have it finished!!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

We weathered the storm safely and are now in the midst of the great dig out….. Hubby is our with shovel in hand as I type and will hopefully be finished before the pre-Super Bowl dinner we are having at 3pm. I want him to be able to sit back and relax and enjoy watching his Colts play in Miami!!

Here’s a couple pictures taken while the snow was falling….

And here’s some during the dig out…

I haven’t been sitting by idly…I’ve been working away in the studio. I quilted the Imperfect Squares Baby Quilt, stitched out the label and attached the label and binding by machine. I’ll finish the hand stitching during the big game tonight. I also stitched out the last 12 embroidery blocks for Fresh Squeezed Graham Crackers. This is what they look like before trimming the threads:

They will become the center of 12 more of these blocks:

I’ll be back with more pictures as I make more progress on my Bricks & Stepping Stones top.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

The weather peeps have forecasted a “historic” snow event for the mid-Atlantic region this weekend just as we are on the tail end of 2 snow events since last Saturday. The cupboards are full of food and I have plenty of quilty projects to work on. So I’m ready to be snowed in this weekend…woohooo!

I’ve included some pretty snow pictures that I took yesterday after our overnight snowfall. I love how the snow was just sitting on the leaves and branches.